


See you on the other side

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Rewrite, Hurt No Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:33:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25232452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: There hasn’t been a sighting of dark spirits since the beginning of the war. It was an early and decisive victory for the United Forces when Avatar Aang sacrificed himself to close the spirit portals. Izumi’s father was captured while protecting the Avatar. Hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers saw their young Fire Lord’s execution that day.Eleven years later Izumi returns triumphant to the Fire Nation capital. While putting the palace back together a haunting happens.All the heavy stuff happens in the first chapter. Readers beware.
Relationships: Aang/Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains very graphic rape scene in this chapter (& only this chapter)

Aang’s body is sacred and precious to Zuko. When they are together he worships it like hallowed grounds, always entering with tender reverence, collecting Aang’s hitched breaths and moans as if they are gifts from the divine. And every time he would be received with a love so palpable, it makes his soul ache. 

Now his beloved’s body is bent and splayed out crudely by Amon’s bloodbending. The Equalists gather around Aang - some with tented trousers showing their eager anticipation for the looming desecration.

“You don’t have to do this.” Zuko pleads, “Don’t taint the world you plan to build with such a dark deed. You’ve won, I beg you, show him mercy.”

“Fire Lord begging for his lover’s life while caring not for his own - how noble… predictable and pathetic.’ Amon replies. He doesn’t turn to face Zuko but instead reaches a hand to grab Aang by the jaw, making the Avatar face him.

“Like you showed us mercy? Great Avatar Aang…” He mocks.

Aang is stoic, his gaze still defiant despite all that’s happened. He has not acknowledged Zuko’s presence since Amon took away his bending. Zuko knows this to be a kindness. It’s Aang’s way to put some distance between them - to lessen the trauma of what is to come. It will not be successful.

This is the punishment the Red Lotus have been promising them for a long time. Once in their grasps, they will take revenge on the Avatar by tearing him apart piece by piece. And as the Avatar’s most loyal political supporter and rumored lover, the Fire Lord will be made to watch. That day has finally come. 

——

Their attack was two-pronged - while Unalaq corrupts the spirits, drawing Aang into the Spirit World, Amon is to take the Avatar’s body while he is vulnerable. The world is about to be thrown into chaos and Zuko is afraid.

“Come to the palace with me Aang - The royal guards will buy us some time.”

“I can’t leave my pregnant wife and children behind Zuko…”

“You’ll be useless once you enter the Spirit World to fight Unalaq,” he reasons. “Toph, Sokka, and the metal benders will keep them safe... You are the Equalists’ true prize - this is the only way we can divert their forces from Republic City…” Zuko says what Aang already knows. Then his voice lowers to a whispered plea, “Or you can stay, here, in the physical world I mean…We can defend our city... together...”

“You know I can’t do that Zuko.” Aang avoids his gaze, walking into Zuko’s arms to hide his sadness.

“I know.” Zuko pulls his lover close and prays for time to stand still.

——

One by one the Equalists defile Aang’s body with zealous fervor. Some even brought special tools for the occasion. Having already been raped by Amon earlier, the pain his followers are inflicting compounds and focuses on his used hole.

They don’t bother tying him up. With his bending gone and cut off from the Avatar State - he’s just like them. Safe in this knowledge, Amon’s zealots let the full extent of their rage explode onto Aang. Some have creative ways to abuse him but rape is certainly the most popular.

He doesn’t give them the satisfaction of tears or pleas. So an unstated competition to get the most noise out of him mounts. Every groan, hiss or scream Aang yields becomes a perverted prize for his abusers. 

The wet sound of flesh pounding into flesh rings loudly off the royal catacomb walls. It is the only sound heard among the satisfied grunts from the man behind him. When the man finishes he gives a war cry, digging his nails into Aang’s hips and buries himself deeper into the broken body beneath him. The fullness provided by his girth elicits a gasp out of Aang - the man seems unsatisfied. He pulls out of the Avatar and shoves the body roughly into the ground. He tidies himself and walks away, signaling for the next person to take his place.

“If you are not going to sing, let us find another use of that pretty mouth of yours Avatar.” The newcomer says from above.

Aang is pulled up to his knees by the leash fastened around his neck - the only article to remain on his otherwise naked body. But he doesn’t cooperate and let his body drop to the ground once released.

“It will be much worse for you if you are going to be this way,” says Amon who without hesitation bloodbends Aang upright again. 

Aang feels an invisible force prying his jaw open as the Equalist positions himself before releasing a pink cock already half hard. A strangled noise of disgust escapes the airbender before it is inserted into his mouth. Aang feels the man take a hold of his scalp to push in further. His throat spasms and closes against the intrusion. He gags as warm tears well up in his eyes. Aang squeezes them shut but the man’s smell overwhelms him. Thick and odious he’s nothing like the familiar warm scent of Zuko. Knowing his lover is made to watch this breaks Aang in half.

“Suck on it like a good whore.” 

He doesn’t.

“Suck. Whore. Suck on it or we’ll get your Fire Lord to do it in your place.”

Aang obeys, putting his mouth to work.

Zuko watches the love of his life gag and choke on the bastard’s cock. He wants to scream. He wants to light the room on fire and melt their flesh from their bones. With his body paralyzed by chi-blockers and bending taken away, the only thing he can do is to shed angry tears from his eyes.

——

“Okay - ah - a little less teeth… yep… ahhh…” 

Aang is aware he’s been at it for too long and if Zuko was to cum it would have happened. After giving a few more valiant sucks, he stops working on his lover unceremoniously and groans “Ugghhh… why am I so bad at this!” 

Zuko chuckles, “It’s okay - you can’t be good at everything Aang.” 

Aang crawls back in bed to him. “It’s not this hard to make Katara cum…”

Zuko responds with an incredulous look. “Sure…”

“For the last time - she promised she doesn’t fake it with me!” Aang feigns outrage. 

“I guess I’ll have to come back in the next life with lady parts and find out for myself.” He smirks at Aang but leans in to kiss him and his wounded pride better. 

“But for now… do you mind helping me with this?” Zuko indicates downwards at his still half-hard cock. Any faux anger melts away from Aang. He smiles, beautiful and bright. “My pleasure.” Aang opens his legs for him and Zuko’s heart sings at the sight. 

They work like well practiced sparring partners, building up rhythm as they go. Aang tilts his hips just how Zuko likes it. In return he thrusts into Aang, listening for his lover’s moans to guide him. And soon they both climax. Aang feels like a lightning rod being struck as memories of a thousand lifetimes’ ecstasy flows through him. Zuko catches a flash of light from Aang’s tattoos and closed eyelids. It sparks a burst of joy within him.

After they have both collected their breaths, the airbender wraps his arms around his collapsed lover and kisses Zuko’s hair - breathing him in. 

“That’s the third time I made you glow this year. I’ll have to write Katara soon to let her know I’m now in the lead.”

“It’s not a competition, Zuko.”

“For you, it isn’t...! And don’t act like you don’t love it…” Aang smiles but doesn’t respond. They fall asleep soon after with the world at peace.

  
  


——

The next man breaks the fingers of Aang’s right hand one by one. He wrings strangled cries from a body nearing death. The evident agony from these faint but visceral sounds seems to satisfy the group. But he is not finished; after stomping on the hand for good measure, he kicks the Avatar’s limp body around to face the Fire Lord. Then he unfastens a leather belt and proceeds to welt it against the dying man. 

He gets more cries and tears from the Avatar, but it’s the look of utter horror and heartbreak from Fire Lord Zuko that feel like justice for what he’s lost.

“Enough.” Amon interrupts the whipping when the Avatar grows quiet. “It’s not his time to die yet.”

And with that the Aang’s final punisher comes into view. She’s a woman of muscular build - no doubt from years of training, all for this moment. She walks to Aang and kneels by him, putting a hand by his face and rubs her thumb across his brow. She is almost gentle in her gesture. She wants to savor this moment.

The woman flips Aang onto his back. His fresh bleeding welts rub against the rough catacomb floor and shoot sparks of pain through his body on top of the hot agony already present. Everything hurts and it makes his mind foggy. With every heartbeat he aches as if a caged beast is pulsing within, tearing him apart from the inside. His body begs to die to quiet it. When he tries to escape into meditation he finds no solace. Whatever Amon did to him severed his spiritual connection. What was once so natural and easy to him feels like a half remembered dream. Now he only finds mute darkness when he tries. Aang has never felt so afraid in his life. As he is raped and beaten his mind coils tightly into itself to keep from crumbling. 

A handkerchief is inserted into his mouth but quickly withdrawn. He realizes it is not to gag him but to wipe him down. Before Aang can speculate as to why, a pair of lips is gnawing on his. She is kissing him. This does not lessen his confusion. Her roaming hands touch him up and down, sweeping his body with mocking sensuality. Before long a hand reaches for his cock, massaging and stroking it with skill. 

Aang’s body betrays him and responds to her touches. A pang of panic strikes him to his core. He goes to push her off.

“Please - don’t - “ Amon slams Aang back onto the ground, arms bent by his head exposing his body for her to touch as she pleases. 

“Ah - the Avatar speaks. Good work Kuvira - wrap this up.” 

“Yes, sir” Kuvira says as she pulls out a metal phallus. A generous amount of cold lube is quickly spread on it before she inserts it into Aang. It’s large and unyielding. It’s cold girth violates his ass like no other. She gives a final nudge until a grunt from Aang tells her she’s hit her mark. For a moment his body tries to expel it, muscles spasming around its silent presence. And then - Aang’s eyes widened at the sudden motion. The phallus vibrates inside him, striking pleasure into his body like lightning. He realizes she is a metal bender then. Before he could protest a moan of pleasure escapes his lips - and like a viper seeing weakness, she strikes. 

With one hand working on his now hardened length and the other grazing his sensitive nipples she kisses him violently. Her impressive mental discipline keeps the phallus buzzing inside Aang - fucking him mechanically. She has lifted Aang’s legs onto her shoulder making the scene a parody of a loving coitus.

“Please… Stop this…” Aang begs during the ebbs of her assault. He is unraveling beneath her, tears now freely flowing. “I don’t want this. Please make it stop…”

This only seems to encourage Kuvira and she doubles her efforts stimulating his body. 

Zuko watches in horror as his lover is violently pushed towards the edge of ecstasy and destruction. When Aang finally breaks he calls out for him and it shatters Zuko.

After she is done with Aang, Kuvira stands triumphant, her cold sneer passes judgement on the broken Avatar below. 

“You disgust me.” With her bending she rips the metal phallus out of Aang. It’s whipped across the hall and disposed of in the rubble.

“Too bad we couldn’t make him glow like he used to.” Someone in the crowd jeers. They have been watched for a long time Zuko realizes. There was never a chance of them walking away from this.

——

Their farewell kiss lingers in a hopeless desperation. When they part he tells the airbender to come back to him soon. Aang simply smiles and nods before dropping into a lotus position. Stone walls rise between them and Zuko’s is left behind. He is alone in the catacomb hall beneath the palace - guarding the most important person in the world to him.

He waits for the inevitable. With the dark spirits on their side, the Equalists will surely prevail. And when they do reach him, it’s his job to buy the Avatar as much time as he needs.

  
  


-

Zuko roasts Amons goons without hesitation. Afterall, Aang is the pacifist out of the two of them. But there are too many foes. The dark spirits make a plaything out of Zuko when they get a shot in.

Then, suddenly, a bright light blinds the room. Zuko uses the distraction to cut down as many Equalists as he can. Before long it is apparent Aang has won in the Spirit World. The dark spirits now friendly seem disoriented. They waddle in place for a bit before dissolving into particles of light, returning to the Spirit World. 

He turns his full attention to the humans left in the room.

  
  


-

Something is wrong - Aang should be back by now. But there is no time to investigate. All he can do is keep the assault at bay.

-

The Equalists eventually subdue him and he is brought to his knees in front of Amon. Amon places his hands on Zuko and he knows in the moment when it happens - he will never breathe fire again. 

His limbs are bound and listless. Zuko is unable to focus his mind after being condemned by Amon. He thinks he knows what death feels like as he lay on the ground watching the earthbender take down Aang’s final shield. 

Aang does not wake up when they do.

“There is no use - You’ve lost. The spirits returned to their world and the portals are closed.” He tries to reason with the terrorists.

“The spirits are Unalaq’s gambit.” Amon turns to face him before saying: “Destroying the Avatar is mine.”

——

The earthbender fuses a metallic poison into Aang’s unconscious body - his tattoos flicker. 

-

Zuko screams when Amon lays the Avatar down and rapes him.

When Aang wakes mid coitus he calls out Zuko’s name in confusion.

-

Unable to enter the Avatar state and bound by chains, Aang is brought to his knees in front of Amon like so many others before him. To the satisfaction of many the Avatar screams in pain when his bending is taken away and falls limp to the ground.

  
  


——

Amon raises Aang’s body above the ground with his bending. His limbs contorted and splayed to exhibit the marks left by Amon’s followers. Blood and cum run down his tattooed legs. Patches of purple are starting to bloom out from where his flesh is torn. Shallow uneven breath does little to fill his lungs as his chest heaves and quivers with effort to draw in more air.

“In your great grandfather’s time - adulatory is punishable by death.” Amon tells Zuko as he maneuvers Aang’s body into his arms. “And they did not dwell on the issue of consent” He finishes - making his intention plain.

Zuko barely hears him. He’s got an armful of Aang, who is still alive and beautiful and perfect.

“I love you,” he tells his lover as if no one else exists in the world.

Aang doesn’t skip a beat, “Love you more” He smiles, eyes glazed with pain.

“Enough of that.” Amon puts a stop to their reunion. And immediately they are both levitating above the ground like puppets on strings.

Amon walks to Zuko and places a dagger in his hand. With a perverse tenderness he closes Zuko’s fingers around the hilt.

“What was it that you used to say in a past life Avatar Aang? ‘Only justice will bring peace’?” Amon turns to his zealots, “Fire Lord Zuko will bring peace to the world today!” He exclaims.

Zuko doesn’t feel his arm move before he feels Aang’s warm blood covers his hand. He looks in shock at Aang’s pale face - growing dimmer by the second - then to his own traitorous hand with that crushing grip on the dagger. Amon commands him to twist it, he resists but his muscles fail him. A scream chokes in Aang’s throat when the blade carves into him. Zuko wishes he would wake up from this nightmare as his hand pulls the dagger out - ripping skin and muscle from his beloved. And then he buries the blade into Aang again, and again, and again, and again.

—

Aang dies in his arms.

“Don’t cry my turtleduck.” Even in his final shaky breath Aang teases him. “I’ll see you in our next life.” And before Zuko can say goodbye, Amon breaks the Avatar’s neck.

——

They are out in the open air and in front of their defeated allies. Thankfully Katara and the children are not present to see Zuko carry Aang’s battered body into the light. Amon makes a speech that Zuko does not hear. He cradles Aang’s body as if his lover is simply sleeping as he awaits his fate.

——

The Equalists douse the two of them with fuel and light them on fire. Later generations will talk of the miraculous cloured flames that shot towards the heavens and the shadow of a dragon hidden within.

When the fire dies no bodies or bones were found at the site.

—

The next Avatar is born on that day. She survives uncorrupted despite the Red Lotus’s best efforts. Her name is Korra and she restores balance to the world.

Korra with her childhood friend Tenzin’s help enters the spirit world for the first time as a teenager. A monk who rides a beautiful red dragon saves them from the fog of lost souls when they unwittingly get trapped. He says his name is Aang and he is her past life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to continue this one-shot because allusions to their happier days really got me... Didn’t think there would be a plot to this expression of my weird kink... but here we are @o@


	2. Chapter 2

Izumi is sixteen when she returns to the Fire Nation capital. Her march to the royal palace is a symbolic one. Flanked by the United Forces and White Lotus soldiers, this is her long awaited homecoming. The streets are lined with Fire Nation citizens cheering for liberation. The sounds of drums and firecrackers amplify their joy. This day is a happy one and it will be remembered as such in the history books. 

Izumi’s heart pounds with pride but also sorrow. The last time she was here her father packed her onto the back of the Avatar’s flying bison and sent her away with her mother. She understood from the look on her father’s face that something terrible was going to happen. But in her childhood naïveté she didn’t think it would mean goodbye.

Today will be the first time she sees the site of her father’s public execution. And even with the distance of eleven years between then and now, it still doesn’t feel like enough.

It takes them some time to restore the palace. The Equalist banners are the first to be torn down and burned. She sets several on fire herself. The vandalized statues and portraits are harder to work with. Izumi orders her men to catalog the damages so artisans may be hired later to restore her father’s heirlooms. 

The structure of the palace remains in good condition. Afterall it was used to house Red Lotus and Equalist high command during the war - and they lived in luxury in her old home. Izumi does not venture near the residential courts until a week after her return. She orders every room to be cleaned three times and is about to order another sweep before Iroh stops her. He puts a gentle hand on her shoulder and tells her to give her men a day off.

“Okay uncle…” She pouts feeling guilty over her slight megalomania.

Iroh looks at her, eyes tearing up.

“What’s wrong uncle Iroh?” She never got used to calling him ‘great uncle’. This has been her name for him since she was a child, taking after her dad.

“You look so much like your father when you pout.” Iroh laughs his tears away.

-

It is twilight when she makes her way to her father’s old chambers. Her feet have a way of avoiding these halls, but eventually she is left with no new rooms to inspect but here.

The halls are dark and muted. She doesn’t light the oiled lanterns restocked by the palace staff. The coldness emanating from these walls feels legitimate and demands her respect. Izumi hasn’t the energy to fight its gloom so she finds her way in the fading daylight.

When she gets to her father’s old bedroom, Izumi halts at the door, recalling those bright orange days. All the mornings she tackled her father’s sleeping form with enthusiasm and giggles. She would plead until he relented and let her stay in bed with them for a weekend lie-in. Aang would always help her wear him down. It is one of the many reasons she looked forward to his visits. In fact, when Aang is away (which is most of the time) she would go to mom’s room to seek comfort on sleepless nights. Dad tried his best, but Aang was always the one with (effective) soothing words.

Now the room is blue and smells of cleansing incense. She tries to remember the homey, lived-in musk from when it was filled with warmth and love - but it’s been too long. She lays herself down on the bed and stays there for longer than it’s good for her. Izumi eventually falls asleep on top of the covers, her tears staining the fresh bedding beneath.

——

Izumi is counting down the days to her fifth birthday because there will be a party, and all her friends will visit. Avatar Aang will surely come too and they will all go on a flying bison ride. It’s going to be perfect. 

“The Avatar flew in today.” She hears a guard tell her governess. They are chitchatting while she is made to practice calligraphy.

“Straight to the Fire Lord’s chambers I bet.” Her governess responds quietly. Izumi doesn’t know she’s not meant to hear the remark nor does she understand why. All she understands is, it’s an imperative she escapes her calligraphy session early to find Aang. She hopes cousin Bumi has also come early. Maybe not Kya - because she’s too small to play with them but always cries when they tell her no.

-

Izumi proves her governess correct when she finally sneaks away and finds Aang in her father’s chambers. She is careful to remain stealthy, strategizing a way to sneak up on them. 

“How am I supposed to focus and get connected to the spirits when you are playing with my hair like that.”

“Meditation is about gaining inner peace and letting go of the physical my dear. Detach yourself, Zuko, and the Spirit World will open up to you.” Aang says more teasing than coaching while he sits behind the Fire Lord braiding his loose locks.

Both men have their backs to her as they sit on the floor by the courtyard, catching the final rays of a dipping sun.

Izumi hears her father give an exaggerated sigh and then with deftness and experience he spins around, pinning Aang to the floor in one fluid motion. She is rooted in her hiding spot, in awe of her father’s grace.

“Well I must remain a failure today, because you are just too -” her father catches sight of her. “Izumi…”

She feels exposed like a trespasser.

“Ah - there is my favorite Fire Princess!” Aang says after recovering, face a little pink from embarrassment.

She runs to him and jumps into his arms for a full bodied hug. She giggles into his shoulder, “That’s only because aunt Azula can kill you if she wants to!”

She’s a child and doesn’t hear the laced sarcasm in their laughing response.

——

Izumi wakes with a start. For a moment she forgets where she is. As her reality takes hold Izumi realizes she is not alone. A shadow hangs by the entrance of the room, swaying with menace. It’s got glowing purple eyes and it is watching her. 

She is frozen, heart pounding. And before she can breathe a sound the creature seemingly transports itself to her - crouching mere inches away from her face. It’s eyes are all she sees.

It considers her for a moment before releasing a visceral howl into her face. It’s voice haunting and alien but releases no breath or warmth like a living creature would. And then it leaps sideways, off the bed, crashing through the screened doors to the courtyard. It vanishes in the moonlight like a shadow without a body.

-

“It must be a dark spirit,” Sokka says again.

The old guards are all gathered in the palace for the upcoming victory celebration. Avatar Korra has also joined them. Normally Korra would be off getting into trouble with Izumi, Tenzin, Bumi, and Kya. But their time for shenanigans has been interrupted by Izumi’s run in with the creature two nights prior. Now they sit together with the adults planning their next step.

There hasn’t been a sighting of dark spirits since the beginning of the war. It was an early and decisive victory for the United Forces when Avatar Aang sacrificed himself to close the spirit portals. Izumi’s father was captured while protecting the Avatar. Hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers saw their young Fire Lord’s execution that day. There wasn’t even a body to be buried by the end. The White Lotus taught her this lesson with careful detachment and sensitivity but Korra has always felt it to be deeply personal.

-

After the celebration Sokka and Toph interrogate the remaining Equalists being held in the Fire Nation prison. They start with the ones stationed at the palace and are quickly rewarded.

“It’s cursed. No one has gone near those quarters since the beginning of the war.” The prisoner says plainly. He’s a young man - too young to have been there at the start. He seems resigned to his fate, showing very little remorse or hate. He talks of the war as if recounting a petty crime.

“How do you know?”

“Everyone knows. It’s the first thing you learn when you rotate in… If people like you that is. If they don’t… well they let you find out on your own.”

“Tell me about the curse. What have you seen or heard?”

“Dark shit. People were literally being scared to death. A few broken necks. No one’s seen the spirits…if there are spirits to see… well maybe Amon did - but he’s dead now so.”

“What makes you think Amon saw anything?”

“Well he stayed in the royal chambers at the start didn’t he? Oh they came for him good. I heard there were twenty men stationed in the area that first night. All dead come morning except Amon. Man didn’t say much about it though. But no one stayed near there after that.”

“Did he do anything else after that attack?”

“Donno - wasn’t there…”

A few more interrogations later Sokka and Toph find out about the catacombs.

-

The royal catacombs were sealed off shortly after the Equalists took the city. It has remained so for eleven years. And tomorrow the adults will go in to cleanse it of its darkness. Or as Sokka puts it, “Katara, with her magic spirit water bending skills will do the heavy lifting and we are just there for moral support.”

Tonight the gang decide to camp out on the cursed grounds of the palace, trying to get an early peek of their foe. Izumi and Bumi are tasked to keep their younger compatriots safely away from the site, but they are a little less responsible than Korra is head-strong. So, around midnight the five kids sneak their way to where they are not supposed to be.

-

“This courtyard used to be Aang’s favorite place.” Katara says to the stars.

“His favorite place in the palace, you mean?” Suki asks.

“Sometimes it felt like it was his favorite place in the world…” Katara responds, still looking to the sky. “Republic City had all that weight of responsibility and the Air Temples were marred by tragedy… But here, only happiness waited for him here...”

“Zuko was waiting for him here…” Toph barely whispers what’s unsaid. They all take a moment to remember their lost friends.

The children eavesdrops from inside the bedroom as the adults camp outside. 

“Don’t be sad sis. I’m sure they loved you equally!” Sokka tries to lift the mood by being intentionally obtuse.

“But I wasn’t there with them in the end…” Katara’s voice is frail with emotion as she trails off. And the gang remain silent for a long while before - the shadow returns.

Kya is the first to notice and immediately screams to alert the others. This springs the adults into action. They have no time to scold the misbehaving little buggers before the creature attacks.

Katara whips out of her water and tries to contain it but it moves too quickly. There is little Toph can do as the spirt doesn’t seem to touch the earth. Suki and Sokka each get a few shots in but it remains unbothered.

Soon they have it surrounded but it feels like the creature is the one who has them pinned. It howls. The same haunting sound Izumi heard days before.

“I’m the Avatar and I command you to go home!” Korra, seeing her opportunity, jumps into the fray.

“No Korra! Come back!” Izumi chases after the young Avatar.

Korra blasts fire at the spirit and then juts a rock from the ground, hitting its mark. The spirit, unhurt, speeds towards Korra. Izumi is barely able to close her arms around her young friend before the spirit gets them. For the first time it touches them both, and neither could prepare for the pain it inflicts on them. 

The shadow looms over their writhing bodies and… watches. Katara takes the opportunity and surrounds it with water. With her bending the water lights up brilliantly - slowly transforming the dark spirit into particles of light.

It seems discombobulated for a moment before it realizes it is fading. The spirit lashes out angrily and howls again and again. Eventually it becomes too much for it’s prison and breaks free from Katara’s bending. As soon as it is free, it disappears into thin air.

Everyone rushes to the fallen Izumi and Korra. Soft sobs can be heard from the young Avatar. “Everything hurts, everything hurts, everything hurts.” The poor girl repeats while not a single scratch is seen on her.

Izumi, sitting with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, is silent. She flinches when Katara puts a hand on her. Her pale face turns to Katara with panicking wide eyes and says -

“I think that was Aang.” Her words rings like shattering glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s more tragic because they were happy T^T... These domestic scenes between Zuko and Aang keeps playing in my mind until I had to write them down... And because Amon severed Aang’s spiritual connection before he died I just imagine Aang’s spirit being stuck in the catacombs, lost, looking for Zuko all these years... going back to places where he thinks he’ll find Zuko T______T (Imsry...)
> 
> One more chapter to resolve it all... Zuko and Aang to be reunited as foreshadowed in the first chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

He wanders the Spirit World for a long time, long enough to forget time itself. His body floats in the air as he flaps his wings directing it towards no particular destination. He’s looking for something that he knows he’ll recognize once found. He’s been searching for a long time, long enough to forget his name.

-

“Zuko - you have to remember” The human says to him. “Aang needs you.”

Like a disenchantment, those words wake Zuko up. Colours and tastes and memories begin to take form within him, occupying a space that was previously unknown to him. Much of his past life still remains shrouded in fog, but he starts to remember who he was.

“Uncle…”

-

Zuko remembers where he must go. It’s night-time now, he knows because he feels the veil between the worlds thinning. With intention he takes to the air, flying home.

——

Zuko wakes with a start. Spots of sunlight from the canopy above delay his eyes from focusing on his surroundings. A slight panic bubbles from his belly - Aang is arriving today, has he dozed off waiting for him? Before he can complete the thought he registers the arm wrapped around him. A napping airbender has him in his grasp. 

Zuko’s heart does a happy backflip as he takes in Aang’s form. Suntanned and freckled skin draped over sculpted slender limbs. His lover is undoubtedly beautiful to any roaming eye - but to Zuko his beauty is magnified tenfold by his spirit. The optimism behind his smiles, the gentleness in which he wields power, and the grace of his soul. All of this Zuko is privileged enough to experience with an intimacy not afforded to many.

Zuko takes Aang’s hand that’s draped over him and interlaces their fingers - waking the Avatar in the process. 

“Hey sleepyhead.” Aang greets him, still half asleep.

“Hey” Zuko whispers back, placing a quick peck on Aang’s forehead.

Unsatisfied, the airbender props himself up for a proper kiss. It’s their first kiss in months so Aang lowers himself with deliberate slowness before pressing his lips firmly to Zuko’s.

“You found me.” Zuko says after they break away.

“I always do.”

——

The spirit attacks Zuko on sight. When it cuts into Zuko’s scales he can feel the fear and anguish from it. Buried in its pain there is a faint echo of Aang’s soul. It’s barely there, but it unlocks Zuko’s memories like a key.

They toss each other around the courtyard, in which, a lifetime ago, many happy days were spent. While both are spirits, their destruction is very much physical. In a desperate attempt to calm Aang, Zuko wraps his serpentine body around the dark spirit to immobilize it. Predictably, it screams and bites in protest. 

Spirits do not feel pain like the living. Their bodies are not made of flesh and blood... but this does not mean they are free of pain. With each of Aang’s bites a piece of their last moments comes into focus. And soon the howling starts to take on meaning. The fear of being bound and violated, echoes of blades cutting into flesh, and the agony of losing the one you love. 

“Oh Aang…” Zuko thinks. He touches the dark spirit’s third eye in hopes to communicate with it. The spirit responds to his attempt and within moments it stills in Zuko’s grip. 

With enough sense of self Zuko is finally able to transform back into his human form. When he does, he finds Aang in his arms- faintly glowing, golden like the sun. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long to find you.” Zuko says, finishing what he began to say when communicating with Aang’s dark spirit.

“I couldn’t find my way to you. So I kept coming back here.” Aang whispers, burying his face into Zuko’s form. Zuko could almost feel a warm breath from Aang - but he knows it’s just his mind remembering a past life.

“I should have known… I’m sorry I couldn’t remember.” Zuko kisses Aang then. Spirits do not feel pleasure like the living, but when the two finally kiss they become whole again.

-

They come back to the palace when they feel the living needs them. And years later young Avatar Korra enters the spirit world with her childhood friend Tenzin.

Aang teaches them airbending and the way of the Avatar. He is often accompanied by a beautiful red dragon.

\- The End -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh the final chapter. I started to write this from the human’s POV but it messed up the tone. I might post it as a bonus chapter for the lolz. There you go. Happy ending =]


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